Daily Digest - 14 June 2023

Headlines

▌US judge rejects the US SEC’s request to freeze Binance.US assets

The federal judge overseeing the SEC case against Binance and Binance.US has declined to order a temporary restraining order freezing the assets of the US trading platform.

That would allow the company's US subsidiary to continue operating while restrictions are discussed with regulators.

If the parties can agree on restrictions, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the District Court in Washington, D.C. said there is "absolutely no need" to apply for a restraining order. Meanwhile, the judge ordered Binance.US to provide the court with a list of its business expenses and ordered the parties to continue negotiations. An update will be issued before business closes on Thursday.

▌US Congressman: House committees will vote on cryptocurrency bill in the next few weeks

McHenry, chairman of the US House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, said at a hearing on Tuesday that he intends to hold a committee vote on an omnibus bill in the coming weeks to establish a regulatory framework for cryptocurrency products. He said he expected to submit a bill for consideration by the committee after lawmakers resume on July 11. Earlier this month, McHenry and others proposed a discussion draft that would clarify regulators’ responsibilities for overseeing crypto products and provide a way for crypto firms and exchanges to register with those agencies.

Policies

▌The US SEC needs four months to respond to Coinbase’s rulemaking request

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it expects to take 120 days to respond to Coinbase’s rulemaking request.

The agency claimed it had not yet decided what action to take on the request, and played down Coinbase's request for expedited action, saying it could be due to a "weakness" in its request. In a filing to the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, it insisted that the petition should be denied.

Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, criticised the response on Twitter, claiming it was fallacious and ignored statements by SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

▌The US SEC and Binance seek a compromise on the US asset freeze

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and BAM Trading (Binance’s US subsidiary) recently filed a request for a consent order that would ease some of the restrictions imposed by the SEC’s previous request to freeze the company’s assets. The proposed new consent decree would provide more assurances to the SEC and allow BAM Trading to make salary and other financial commitments.

According to the filing: BAM Trading and BAM Management can continue to pay for the purchase of goods and services, the salaries of BAM Trading and BAM Management personnel, including pre-existing benefits, professional fees and other similar day-to-day business operating expenses.

Cryptocurrency

▌Elliptic: Atomic has suffered a hacker attack loss of more than 100 million US dollars

Atomic Wallet users have lost more than $100 million in hacking attacks, blockchain security firm Elliptic said Tuesday. Elliptic, which tracks more than 5,500 wallets targeted in the attack, said the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group was responsible for the incident, which would be the first major cryptocurrency theft since the $100 million attack on Horizon Bridge a year ago.

Hackers are now starting to switch gears, turning to laundering assets through Russian cryptocurrency exchange Garantex.

Atomic CEO Konstantin Gladych said the team is working with the police in Estonia, the company’s country of registration, where the wallet was hacked on June 3. The team also received a request from the Kazakh police. We forwarded the request to the Estonian police and Chainalysis, we provided them with all the information needed for the investigation, and we also provided the victim's data to Crystal Blockchain and Elliptic. Exchanges and over-the-counter trading centres use them to block suspicious transactions.